BLUES VS. CANUCKS
When: Monday, March 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: Bally Sports Midwest, Bally Sports app
Listen: Q94 93.9 fm
Tickets: Buy online at ticketmaster.com
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues will be looking to snap out of a rough stretch on Monday when they open a home-and-home set against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Blues are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games and have dropped two straight after starting last week with an impressive 5-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Pavel Buchnevich scored twice on Saturday night against Carolina, but that was all the offense the Blues could muster in their last outing, where they fell 7-2 to the Hurricanes – although that did include two empty-net goals for Carolina.
“Wins are tough right now,” a frustrated Brayden Schenn said after the game. “You’ve got to be able to grind this time of year, and we’re just not doing enough of it.”
The Blues will wrap up their three-game homestand Monday against the Canucks before traveling to Vancouver for a rematch on Wednesday.
CANUCKS The Vancouver Canucks are battling to climb into the playoff picture in a competitive Western Conference.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Canucks were just five points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the final Wild Card position in the Western Conference – and they had a game in-hand.
Vancouver has collected points in four straight games entering Monday’s contest. They’ve gone 2-0-2 in that stretch, which includes wins against the Colorado Avalanche and most recently, the Dallas Stars.
J.T. Miller leads the Canucks in scoring with 80 points (28 goals, 52 assists) this season – a whopping 27 better than the second-place Quinn Hughes, who has potted 53 points (five goals, 48 assists).
Since taking over behind the Canucks bench, Head Coach Bruce Boudreau is 24-11-7 with a .655 win-percentage.
HEAD-TO-HEAD Monday’s matchup will be the second meeting between the Blues and Canucks this season. The Blues won the first matchup 3-1 in Vancouver on Jan. 23.
The Blues are 3-1-1 in their last five meetings with the Canucks and 5-1-1 in the last seven meetings at Enterprise Center.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES David Perron, who has 13 goals in his last 12 games. Perron had an eight-game point streak (10 goals, four assists) snapped on Saturday against the Hurricanes.
CANUCKS Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the long-time Arizona Coyote who was dealt to the Canucks at the 2021 NHL Draft. Ekman-Larsson has 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in his first season in Vancouver.
BLUE NOTES
Buchnevich recorded his 100th career goal on Saturday night against Carolina. Nick Leddy collected his first point as a Blue with an assist on Buchnevich’s first goal… Vladimir Tarasenko is just three points shy of 500 in his NHL career… Five of the Blues’ next six games will come against Pacific Division opponents. St. Louis is 11-3-2 against Pacific teams this season.
